RWBY SCP 007
by Valley of The ID
Summary: This is the aftermath of that contract with Sienna Khan. The bodies, the repercussions, and the maneuvering of other city states as Grimms Bane holds there attention. Throw in a dash of legal kidnapping and you have a boring story that needs to be said.


Despite the best efforts of the game Frostpunk and Subnautica Below Zero I have finished this portion, now I hope it doesn't finish me. Also, why is it I see my grammar fuckup's only after I post?

Anywho, This is the aftermath of that contract with Sienna Khan. The bodies, the repercussions, and the maneuvering of other city states as Grimms Bane holds there attention. Throw in a dash of legal kidnapping and you have a boring story that needs to be said.

* * *

**Home Again Home Again**

**Wars can be won, or lost without a single round being fired**

It had been almost a week after there battle with the Kaiju and a lot of events had happened, not earth shaking, but hard none the less. Isaac reflected on it all as he watched the wrecked tanks being craned into a deep hole. Once in position on an eight foot thick concrete pad they would place construction forms around it all. Entombing the tanks with reinforced rebar and concrete, a chemical mix was added to the concrete that would allow it to resist time based water damage. Then a thick rubber coating would be panted around that. Then stainless steel would be welded shut around the rubber. Once the whole thing had cured the memorial would be place on top of it with it's own foundation adding to the ever growing hole. A thick, long, black marble obelisk like wall about eight foot tall and four foot thick would be placed on top of the tanks.

Black with white flaked stone, he forgot the name of the marble, just knew where it came from, somewhere by Minstrel in a mountain quarry. It would curve slightly along its length.

Isaac sighed he disliked building this thing for Grimms Bane. Yet. This would happen again he knew. People will die. They had kicked who ever was guiding these things right where it counted and sooner or later there would be a price.

The monument was made so that sections could be added at a latter date to make room for new names, it could be just over a hundred feet long when fully completed. There would be at that time over five thousand names. Then a new one would be made. He had the blue prints on how it would be built, large enough for over twenty thousand names, and how it all would look when done, a rendering in CGI but he admitted, it should be nice looking. Sighing anew Isaac's thoughts drifted.

So far all they knew is whoever controlled these grim, had a female face. SCP 008 it seemed was also a communication device. It made sense, to spy, someone would have to see what was around them. Isaac thought the thing was telepathic, one way, and could communicate at distance, but this? It could allow two way communication, could grim be verbally directed? That meant grim could understand ideas and concepts. Or was this for the woman's allies? That made him grind his teeth a bit frustrated. There was people in his old world that did that, sided with an idea, some even worshiped, willingly, the SCP's.

They had trouble containing 008 at first. 008 would die within hours after being caught, but by placing it in the dark, compressed in a enforced clear containment beaker, anchored in place the air around it thick with smoke, it lived on. Their infrared and ultraviolet monitors had caught a face on the surface of 008, distorted by the curve and bone plates, but still a face. She had turned her head as if looking around before vanishing. Isaac sighed knowing he could not let this one go public until he had more, soon he would have to deal with Ozpin and his gang. Oapin had hidden himself, no mean feat in such a high tech society, so he should know, or have a lead, if nothing else have some history about this woman, but that was for a latter time, so he refocused on the present.

He had paid for this monument to the dead, and it had left him almost broke, but it seemed the vary least he could do for them. The large words near the center top would be filled in with white stone. The massage simply said. The Honored Dead. Below that in gold leaf were the names of the eleven, another had died from her wounds a day later. On it would be the date they were born, and when they died. He had made it like the one from his old world, save there they never displayed the names of the D class.

Isaac had opted to bury the crew in the tanks they died in, becoming the foundation of Grims Bane memorial. He liked the symbolization. The crew had been incinerated at over a thousand degrees. There was simply nothing left. The young hybrid faunas looked down at the ground remembering how one tank had it's turret partly blown off and the other, you could see the melted inside's, the armor had been eaten away by the Kaiju, the ammo explosions, and the flames. The last one to die was buried behind the obelisk to be in a tended field, he hoped the memorialized grave site would not get too large. Yet he could half imagine himself out there one day. That morbid thought made him smile, a better end then being dissected to see what killed you and then cremated in an industrial kiln. To be shoveled out when it became too full.

Everyone here had passed the hat, three of the eleven had brought their family's to Mavideniz. Giving them the bad news was never easy. It always stung seeing them break down into tears, or stagger, trying to catch there breath. Two of the family's had moved out as soon as the payment for the mission was in the bank, the life insurance which all the Bane had topped them out at over a million each, so there was that at least. Still it felt hallow. "Guess some things never change. No mater where you are." Isaac told the wind. Letting his mind wander into the resent past.

Less then a day had passed when the reporters descended on the camp and town in mass, most wanted a free recording of the firefight. Or an exclusive with any member they could get. Bane had sold the footage as an exclusive to a 3D station. So the rest got the cut and dry condensed version in a one shot info dump. Then three more days passed and Sienna Khan made good on sending Grimms Bane some of her people.

Two former trainers at the hunters board from Patch were in charge of the instructors for the recruits. One did combat and the other aura. It made him reflect. It seemed once these ideas took off, the adults did a better job then him, it was a harsh reminder that even with all his knowledge he was still more or less average as a person. These two hunters had already passed him in skill for training other hunters. This made his job easier but Isaac felt a kind of melancholy, a sadness or jealousy that he didn't have a hand in it, or wasn't needed anymore.

The experiments in the lab yielded less and less each day, now long term tests were being done, and sometimes what they did to the grim was just out right weird stuff. But once everything was set up Isaac found a lot of free time to see to the memorial and train, generally catching up on the world. As the month passed he had hooked up with, well. The Bane called them buzz bodies. Isaac called them information gathers. Spies if you will.

This group of over two dozen were clannish and got into everything, nothing it seemed was too small not to investigate. Hyper active and easily bored, these people were into the whole lot. Some of what they found was insightful. Like the sudden drop in the numbers of hunters in Minstrel, nothing official, but when your gone for over eight months on a simple find and bring home a missing person, or hunt down a grim, well, face it, there dead.

The fact the headmaster of that military institute in Mantel had not formally posted the failed mission's peeked the curiosity of three of them enough that they traveled to get a better understanding. A faunas called Leo something or other, was head of that academy and they didn't want to talk to him. There healthy paranoia said he was deliberately avoiding the situation so they wanted to talk to the daughters, the brothers, the mothers and fathers. The places they hung out at, and friends they had, and of course the hacker of the group wanted to get into the private records of the hunters, as well as the academy's files, in general everything that looked interesting.

Isaac recalled what he had found out with the resident hacker's help. The city of Vale was giving them difficulty receiving phosphorus for the thermite mix used in there explosive shells and missiles. The load out for the up and coming puff gun ship would be huge. The bureaucrat's in Vale were putting up all kinds of unnecessary and almost illegal trade blocks, mostly having to do with the anonymity of Mavideniz East. It was pretty clear after the Buzz gave there report that Vale was trying to get the town to concede they were a provenance or county of Vale, to smooth the way for business transactions. The darker side was Mavideniz would be subject to Vale's laws, ideologies, and wants, which were changing concerning hunters, all for the bad.

From bounties to weapons allowed, some limitations were restrictive depending on age. The Grimms Bane as a group were rightly upset about it and had talked with each other and had an unofficial vote to be there own nation, which was met with a lot of enthusiasm for the younger crowd. An executive statement by one of the, what Isaac called a leach, a type of political legal representative formally declared Mavideniz East and West an independent country in response to what Vale had done. Vale was using their needed shipments as leverage in a quiet war one of the Buzzers had said. Now Isaac had to find a way around them. They could get shipments from other locations, but the cost was almost double to do it.

The hunters board was a international institute whose member's drew from the same deep pockets, providing transportation, medical and dust to the certified hunters and payment for grim killed. All of that would, if Vale had their way, provide less and less coin per bounty. Simply put what Vale wanted was the more grim you killed the less you received. This board governing Vale was also proposing weapons and equipment restrictions. To Isaac the board was trying to disarm hunters, these rules were hidden in a complex list of conditions and items, which unless examined closely stood a good chance of passing come the public vote.

The governing body of Vale didn't stop there. The propaganda they vomited was painting Grims Bane as a more military organization then a hunters union. This information was used to drive fear into the common people. Using what they called a deep concern about Grimms Banes true intent. Using that dubious statement as a weapon to limit, for public safety reasons, the size of the unit's for missions. If you bypassed any one item, didn't do things by the book, the fines effected your reward which would in the end be almost seventy percent gone. If they passed the motions.

One Buzz with the weirdest colored hair Isaac had ever seen gave him a contact to see. Handed him a false ID and a forged medical card saying Isaac was a victim of a time crystal accident. More true then he knew. A kit to disguise Isaac which had made him laugh when he saw the outfit. He would look more like a midget then young.

Isaac was to talk to someone called Jr. for a smuggling operation so Grims Bane could get the chemicals they needed, but he stressed to Isaac to do this after Taiyang talked to him. Which would be in about two days from now. Telling Isaac his girlfriend had told him to let him know that Tai would be coming and to wait. Then he giggled insanely and with a skip scampered off. Leaving Isaac wondering what happy pills he had gotten into.

Isaac spent the next day and part of the second reading up on Jr. Studying city streets and utility maps. The configuration of his night club. The Buzz as always would given him overkill in information even Jr's family and friends were in there. What resources Jr. had, and what the man would most likely want as payment. Isaac as he read had a strange ugly flash recall, this was like trying to get a flack jacket back home just before a mission, a lot of barter and moving in the shadows. In his old home. The D class had there own economy, there own underground if you will.

**Arrival**

Isaac was waiting by the towns simple landing pad's as the bullhead touched down at East Mavideniz. Tai exited with a rather stern look about him, without a word Tai pulled from a shoulder case some papers and handed them to Isaac. Then pragmatically told him. "Your now Isaac Able Cane Xiao Long." Isaac blinked then blinked again. After three or so more seconds Tai smiled almost ear to ear. "You should see your face. Made my day."

Taiyang draped an arm over his shoulder leading Isaac away from the aircraft as Isaac read. Explaining to him in a rather serous tone. "This is to keep the autocrats off you, I was given a heads up by this crazy rainbow haired woman, who handed me these adoption papers along with some interesting information and instructions. She said if I didn't adopt you the government was going to forcefully place you in an orphanage and keep you there until you became an adult."

Isaac came to a surprised, jarring, dead stop. "What the flaming fuck?!" He waved the papers at Tai to emphasize his point. "The Buzz are right, there is some kind of shitty silent war going on, these fuckers want me to just lay down and take it?" Tai shrugged getting a seriously familiar look on his face that made Isaac go quiet and gulp. It was like having a Level 3 pissed off at you.

"First, as my son I don't like it when you cuss, so knock that off, right now, or I will by law and affiliation as your parent be able to take you home, to patch, permanently." He stressed, the slight smile on Tai's face confused Isaac he wasn't sure if he was being candid or making a joke. "You are out here now by my permission." Isaac after staring somewhat shocked riffled to the end of the paperwork and found his signature. One that he never signed. He could only stare at it. Even his line jitters were there. He looked stunned saying to the paper. "I'm, family?"

Tai with a slow returning smile again put an arm around Isaacs shoulder leading him as they walked. "Yes you are. Consider this your second chance." After a few steps he added quietly, and quite seriously. "Come tomorrow your going to get an early visit by the Anima Department of Children and Families Services. They're going to retrieve you and place you in foster care. As Anima is not recognizing Mavideniz as an independent city, let alone country. Well they will try. Then a sub department, its a licensed mental health organization. Which if that woman who gave me the original adoption paperwork is right, already have the formalities written up that will allow them to keep you institutionalized and heavily medicated for most of your life as a special needs person."

When Isaac looked up Tai sounded more like he was making a vow. "I am going to be here with you, and make sure nothing happens to you." He steadied Isaac as he started to stagger adding a last bit of information. "Ironwood is doing me a favor, and is keeping the originals in a safe place. These are a notarized copy."

"It's like Signal Academy all over, but with a more vicious side to it. Someone's hunting me." Isaac said with surprised realization. Tai nodded saying nothing more. Isaac caught, even in his befuddled state, that fleeting look on Taiyangs face. _"He knows who, or someone who knows, but is keeping quiet about it."_

Isaac looked over the new town that seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds, the huge defensive walls in the making that you could see at a distance, another set that held the grim they practiced with, the gunnery range and weapons yard filled with tanks trucks, tankers everything one needed to fight a war. The reinforced walls of the munitions stockpile and the assembly yard with that huge smelter that processed the steal they needed.

Isaac reflected on the mines they co owned, now there were three dust, two iron and his oil deposit, and the export cash they brought in was putting Mavideniz on the map as more then just a place to buy fish and raw lumber, new exports were steal and raw dust, next year there would be farming and crops, someone he heard wanted a fruit farm. Grimms Bane had secured a vast area of land, had made it free of grim, the founders owned thousands of acres each due to taking part in clearing out the grim, everything here was growing, and quickly.

Isaac had to admit he kept saying the grim are guided. and now it seemed that guiding force was becoming focused on him. He had theorized the grim had a hive mind, as medical scans had shown a slightly less dense more oily section where the brain would be. Kind of like the oil in a whales head. But now. With this. That face. It seemed he was dealing with a group who was far more aware and cunning then he first thought, it made his hair stand on end. Someone was moving in the shadows, and it was after him. "They want to stay in the shadows." He muttered realizing the importance. "To keep everyone in the dark? No open war. Why?"

"Is this your home? Here?" Tai asked. Isaac blinked, again off balance. He had walked in a daze almost a mile into the compound where he had built his home, from the tent to hovel to foundation, to house. "Uh, ya.,um, let me, get the door." As he unlocked it Tai asked. "With all the electronics and that key card around your neck, why use a mechanical lock?" Opening the door Isaac let Tai walk in first fallowing and haphazardly answering.

"Electronics can be hacked, keycards copied, physical security is used to let us into the lab, then these keys are used to move around, and only to designated rooms. The magnetic locks only work if there's power, without electricity they default into the locked position. Everything we do tries to prevent insurgency and the spread of any program virus. Key locks like this need more then bobby pins to open, the tumblers are heavy, yet the opening is too narrow to put anything else in, there almost lock pick proof."

Isaac went quiet, suddenly having an overwhelming feeling of guilt as Tai looked the place over. It took using a mental discipline that resisted Mnemonic influence to get himself refocused. "I can set up something in the guest room, more a futon then bed, but it's all I got, for now." He started getting a lopsided grin on his face, an I can't believe I'm saying this look. "Dad." He saw the startled look on Tai posture, then he recovered and grinned back. "Is it so hard to believe? Son?" They each stood there trying to see who was going to laugh first. It was Isaac who ended it with a smirk. Tai made a motion with a finger like he was keeping score.

"This is, strangely exciting." Isaac confessed seeing a lot of opportunities opening up. Tai gave him a smile that said you have no idea. "Wait until Yang gives you the older sister routine. Rubys going to love it seeing her dot on you, you are the youngest after all."

Isaac made a whoa slow down motion with his hands. "Now, let's not get carried away on this kid stuff." Tai rebutted with a uncaring shrug.

"Not up to me, but as you have said your thankful for a second chance. Why not take advantage of it? After all, your only young twice." Then he started laughing at his own joke. Isaac groaned as if hit. Then as his mind kicked into gear.

"Just a tick, you told them?" Isaac asked surprised. "Yangs not, you know, angry about it?" Tai found a chair and sat waving a hand. "She was surprised. Now I think she's readying puns and jokes to spring on you. Ruby bounced with her usual joy finding only the good." Tai leaned forward. "I sure am parched from that long walk." Isaac almost bounced quickly stumbling over the words a host to a guest should use. "Oh, ya, I got water, soda, and beer, I think some whisky."

"Beer." Tai said almost sadly as Isaac nodded and quickly left. "Not to hound you on drinking, but your organs are still developing, and the drunk you get is the body's reaction to poison. Have you tried plants?"

Isaac came back with two beers explaining to Tai. "That leaf is expensive, and I hear it makes you overeat." He handed one to Tai and sat in the chair across from him before opening the can and taking a long draw. "I'm kind of glad you're here, maybe I can finish off this six pack, I've had the thing for about five months now." Then he smirked a bit at Tai.

"Well, not to often then? That's a start." Tai agreed.

They relaxed and started talking. The conversation drifting from one subject to the next. Tai giving him an update on what happened at Signal after he left. Tai noted Isaac kept away from there mission with the White Fang not even giving a vague hint until he realized Isaac was messing with him in a kind of predatory relaxed way. So he asked. Saw the fight, the edited story and the Kaiju, learned what they were doing with it. He found the dust being shoved into grim intriguing.

"So your saying the longer dust stays in the grim the more it changes the lattice structure?" Isaac nodded.

"We get some strange almost esoteric results, but one thing is standard those crystals become more potent, by that I mean powerful enough to blow apart a weapon, freeze a room, or power the building just using a standard round of the stuff. Red Black dust seems to drain aura, but only shows up now and again, were going to catch 010 uh, some monkey grim, or ape, gorilla, what ever there called. Try crystallization on them, see if it changes into something different."

"How do you catch or even control something that powerful?"

"Cut, or rip off the arms and legs to capture. Metal bars to hold the body, belly to the wall, and more steel to hold the mouth open, a robot arm to shove the dust in." Isaac answered almost casually.

"Don't they?" Tai asked. Isaac understanding shook his head.

"Nope, takes splitting the body in two, cutting off the head, or a massive blow to the center chest area to kill them for some reason. Be nice if all ya had to do was take a leg or knock a chip off them." Isaac gave a sigh and called up a program displaying what he was talking about in 3D.

"All the MRI's we've done to grim show there is nothing inside, hel.. Uh, some are even slightly hollow, have a void in the center, yet they can eat things, what little we have fed them shows it goes to making the grim larger, stronger, even regenerates limbs, but it takes about a day plus for that to happen. Oddly grim don't go after live pray, they will eat a dead one, but just stare at a live one, unless it attacks them."

"Your crew do some brutal experiments." Tai commented his minds eye seeing cute cuddly puppies in a grim cage, finishing his beer he added. "Not that its any concern, the knowledge you've given to the world has upped the killing of grim across the globe.

"It's spreading that fast?" Isaac asked astounded. I just let that info out after the Khan contract. "Uhm, want another?"

Tai nodded, letting him know some people have written assays on the data. "You are making a huge impact, and just a soda this time." Tai almost smiled at Isaac when he brought the glass to him, he seemed excited, like a kid at a birthing day party.

"It's good to know the information is spreading so fast, but these crystal experiments, could ya keep quiet about the subject? With people taking a strong interest, they can captured there own grim, for training if nothing else, and could easily duplicate what we're doing." With a smile Isaac switched gears. "Now Grimms Bane needs to prepare for the next assault on us." Tai frowned concerned at the relaxed nature Isaac held.

"Well." Tai began. The bureaucrats tried to exile you from becoming a hunter, now I hear on the news that the newly purposed laws for hunters are being geared at restriction mostly. Then there's this adoption, so what else is there? Other then a frontal attack? What are you thinking about?"

"The friendly foe." Isaac nodded with conviction. "The one who comes up letting you know, as a friend and guide, what's best for you. The influencer." Tai stared across the room and sighed. Taking a few gulps from the soda.

"Kind of like Ozpin?" Isaac asked. Tai watched him a bit before sighing again.

"I was thinking, your world, fighting as you have done, sometimes just for another breath. What will you do? Once all the grim are all gone? You'll be older and it kind of saddens me to know that even given this second chance, you still can't be a child, even with how smart you are, emotionally speaking."

"Can't afford to. Lot's to do and no real time to do it all." Isaac answered crisply.

"From what I'm seeing, and been told. There's a lot of people who know as much or more, now that they have an out side the box view on fighting grim. This is something that has a life of it's own now." Tai shifted in his seat explaining in a mater a fact way. "You could walk away, anytime, and this would still continue, so." Tai leaned forward asking simply. "Can't you just be, a child? Let some of the tension go, if even if for a short while?"

Isaac looked like he wanted to say something. Instead looked down at the beer can.

Tai stood walking over to him and tried to hold him. Isaac squirmed trying to get away. Tai spoke in an almost whisper "Shhh, your safe, this is not your old world, your safe." Isaac made a sputtering noise. "Why are you, pushing this? I'm not some kid, who had a bad fall."

Tai smiled sadly. "No, your not, but. I've lived with you for months. I am outside, looking in. What I see is someone who never was a child, holding onto the only thing he knows. Now. I may not be your birth father, and this may be selfish on my part, but I have looked on you as my son, one I never got the chance to have. So? Can you tell me why? Why do you hold on so tight, restrict yourself so, never letting go, when you don't need to, not any more. Compared to your old world this one is safe."

Isaac stopped squirming and looked down, sputtered, a gasp, not a word came out even as he tried to talk, and instead started crying. "Because." He gasped holding back tears. "Because it hurts, to remember, to feel. Every memory is garbage, from the time I knew I was alive. Constant degrading, belittling. It just hurts, so much." He tried and failed descending into a half halfheartedly held back full blown balling. Isaac let Tai hold him sputtering. "nNo, were not safe, no one is. Something, something is out there, something with a face." He started sniffing for breath then bent forward a soul cry coming from him, all the rubbish he had endured wanted out. There was nothing more to distract him no discipline he could muster, no silent acceptance of his lot in life. Tai had blocked those path's with his questions, and the long suppressed memories came out in a flood.

As all emotions go they all eventually end, as did Isaacs. Isaac had cried himself to sleep in his arms. The older man couldn't help but smile. Picking him up he took Isaac to his room took off his shoes and covered him in a blanket. He didn't dare do more. That act, it would shatter this light trust he had shown.

If Goodwitch was to be believed. Isaac had killed a man at the age of fourteen who had sexually victimized him for almost ten years, and in a rage killed almost forty others as well. That mass murder is why he became a prisoner. It made sense why he was always angry at Qrow. He is uncle to Ruby and Yang, and he drinks.

Looking over the room Tai knew Isaac had never really left his SCP prison, his room reflected it. Simple and spartan. A small bed, a few books, no 3D entertainment anywhere in the home, no games, only computers for data gathering, it looked hollow, empty to him, not as a home should look. It was like the boy was just visiting. It was almost like he didn't want to leave much behind, to not be a burden to others when he was gone. Tai left the bedroom closing the door quietly.

The guest room was more a light storage room Tai made enough room to lay the bed out and found the blanks and sheets where they logically would be. After he went to the back yard, small as it was, little more then a place to park a car, which there was none. Pulling out his phone Tai made a call. She picked up on the second ring. Smiling Tai asked. "Hay. How's life treating my sunny dragon?"

"Pretty good, had some problems with Weiss and Blake but straightened it out, so all good." Then her tone changed to almost gleeful. "So how's the youngest doing? Bawl himself to sleep yet?" Tai gave a short laugh. "Ya, he did, talking to him straight and direct did a number on him, and he's sleeping it off right now." Yang perked up her voice becoming light, all but singing. "Told ya, sis played that on me years ago, every time we got real she would try to distract herself and avoid facing her feelings."

"I did not!" Ruby yelled in the background.

Yang continued as if Ruby hadn't said a word. "So, it was easy to see through Isaac, he just got hurt and, then really hurt, it's a start, I think he just need's to let it out."

"Sis!" Ruby protested at being ignored.

"Shhhh. The grown ups are talking." Yang rebutted. Tai counted to three before he heard Ruby saying "You are not." then Yang grunted. "Pillow?" He asked. "OH, Ya! Gata go Dad, give are psycho brother our love and if Ruby doesn't live, I'm sorry." Then she hung up. Tai looked at the scroll and chuckled. "Never change you two, never change."

Going back in Tai ticked of a mental list on what needed to be done to make this a home and not just a place to sleep, settling down he went through the adoption papers then referred to the notes he's lawyer had given him on what to expect from Children's Services. He wondered how far they would push this. Hoping his precautions were up to the task before sighing and settling down for a fitful sleep.

He woke at just after three in the morning hearing the shower going. "Another bad dream of a drunk coming home after the bar closed." Tai darkly said to the night.

Fostering Isaac had allowed Tai to know what the shrinks were learning about him. Other then the SCP's missions one of the traumas was his real fathers abuse, sometimes dragging him out of bed in the middle of the night to complete some chore he had not done, beating him and screaming on how useless he was. Yelling insults until he finished the chore. Yet to drunk to tell if Isaac had finished.

Here that would get his father a prison term, but on his own world it was considered a domestic problem. It kind of made sense, that world was too busy trying to stay alive. The result for Isaac was sleepless nights around closing time, compounded by abuse from his uncle for over a decade, leading to murder, then prison. Then a new life filled with threatening events that were the stuff of horror movies.

The boy, even if he is time wise a man. To Tai, Isaac was a shell of shattered dreams. He needed time, time to get his bearings, to heal, be a kid with all the simple emotions, be a survivor, not a mentally disciplined soldier. Marching on with little to look forward to save a quick death. "That's no way to live." Tai muttered.

Tai shifted in the bed and listened for the shower to end. Hearing Isaac head back to his room and settling in for the rest of the night.

Morning breakfast was in a chow hall. The cheep meal had all the substance needed for a high calorie day of extreme activity. Tai found he could barely finish half before they left. Then Isaac introduced him around. They found half the camp knew he had been adopted by Taiyang. "Quite the gossipers." Tai commented.

"Nothing is safe in Grimms Bane." Isaac boasted with pride Tai noted.

They took a quick tour of the labs and then the grounds before hearing over the intercom that Children's services had arrived. Then the announcer added quietly, with armed escort. Tai blinked a bit surprised. "So, there really doing it." He could hear it, or lack of it. It seemed the camp, the normal bustle of hundreds of people, slowly, and quietly stopped. Those in eye sight were looking at them. "Well, let's get this over with." Tai told Isaac, again taking his shoulder and leading him to the landing pads.

"Wow. Talk about high noon at the O-K." Isaac whispered. Tai nodded. There were three from Children's Services. They were the only ones in business clothing. The other six were armed, in armor, and looked like they would take no bullshit.

A smartly dressed woman in a power suit seemed to be the boss here as she was the first to step forward. "Are you Isaac Able Cain?" She asked crisply. Isaac shook his head. She then took from her briefcase and held up a photograph of him. "Could you explain why you look so much like this faunas?" She asked. Tai could feel Isaac tensing up at the word faunas. The way the woman approached them was more like a program identifying a user.

"My sons name, miss or mam, is Isaac Able Cain Xiao Long." Tai told her. She didn't miss a beat in her response. "I have not been informed of any adoption proceedings concerning this child. May I see the papers?" Tai again pull the required paperwork from his shoulder bag. Letting her know she could keep the copy.

She looked over the documents with a trained eye of one used to finding errors in applications before looking up and asking for the originals. Tai informed her they were in safe keeping and the one she held was notarized by three lawyers. "I would prefer to see the originals." She stated. When she learned they were not at this location she laid down what was going to happen.

"Until I can see the originals I must, as I have not been notified of this adoption, which would have saved me a long trip to Mavideniz. So I must assume that this is in question. Until proven otherwise I will be, as per our laws sequestering Isaac Able Cain pending the originals. Please call us for an appointment, when the original document is available." The two in suits to her side moved forward.

"This is nothing short of a kidnapping." Tai told her. His voice was that of a professor, controlled and accurate as he continued. "This was anticipated so the document has been notarized and is signed by three approved lawyers." It was enough to stop the two suits.

"Please." The woman said somewhat irritated. "I am Ms. Shtapan Head of Children's Services. I would know if any document even remotely like this had come across my desk."

Tai smiled showing a lot of teeth. "I am honored, that the head of Children's Services, with armed escort would take from her important work schedule the time to come so far to pick up one young faunas." Tai shifted more in front of Isaac. "You do not approve of every, or even some of these adoption documents, your job is to see to any major problems that come to Children's Services, to in effect be a CEO of a corporation. With that in mind you have little to do when it comes to adoption paperwork. So. Are you telling me. That my son is to be taken, from me? On a maybe?"

"Mr. Xiao Long. Are you with all this misdirection interfering with my duties? This faunas happens to be a known name, the death of that monstrous grim traveled across the entirety of Remnant almost in the same day. If there were any adoption papers concerning this child I would know. The father and or mother would become an all but common name to the public. Your deception, no matter how well done, will be found out and proven as false. You will then be prosecuted to the full extent of the laws. Do. I Make. Myself Clear? Now, Mr Xiao Long, stand aside."

"First this was done quietly in Patch, to avoid that kind of public lime light. The last thing Isaac and me need is reporters hounding us. Enough reporters I learned came to this camp, becoming disruptive to Grimms Bane. Also as a point of note, I have fostered Isaac for months, so almost all of the goals needed to adopt were and had been met. As for a deception or fake I will remind you that due to Vale pressuring Mavideniz all here declared it's self an independent nation, not subjected to agreed upon laws by Anima, or for that matter any nation of Remnant. You may make your protest here, not take Isaac away to parts unknown, then tell me the paperwork was lost."

Tai could feel Isaacs aura building. "Don't." Tai whispered. Looking down on him. "I will not go into the dark, like chattel." Isaac gritted back. He had seen the escorts body posture change, he had witnessed that before, in to many missions where the survivors had to be killed. Though there faces were covered. The stance, and bearing was the same.

"I know." Smiled the woman eyeing Isaac. She made a motion with her arm. The guards raised their weapons. "Well?" She asked.

"This is an execution!" Isaac yelled. "You have no intention of even taking me to Children's Services. You're a scam!"

"No." She responded. "You are insane, and resisting, also you by your own acts displayed in the news, are an extremely dangerous faunas." Then she pointed a single finger at Isaac. The armed escort fired. Tai involuntarily moved completely in front of Isaac bracing his aura to tank the rounds.

It was a quiet few seconds that passed before Isaac realized nothing was happing. He looked around Tai and found the rounds leaving the automatic rifles were moving so slow he could count them, the armed solders even Shtapan and her subordinates seemed frozen in place. "What…?" Blurted out from Isaac. He knew this was the work of someone's semblance. He just never considered reality could be bent this much.

"I think I have seen enough." Ironwoods voice calmly cut the quiet. "Restrain them and prep them for internment." Tai exhaled with relief sagging a bit, all but clasping his knees. Isaac watched stunned as five people in Atlas uniforms move forward, unaffected by the seeming time stop, one was pointing at Shtapans group. "Where the hell did they come from?" Isaac asked himself. The others quickly gathered the bullets. Another took the rifles out of the mercenaries hands. The remaining two restrained the rest.

"Cutting it mighty close." Tai complained then he scowled at Isaac for cussing.

"You knew?!" Isaac burst out more then a bit shocked. "Who has the mass invisibility semblance? I have several jobs need doing."

"The Banes information gathering section is quite through." Ironwood quietly commended. Completely ignoring Isaac. He glanced at a dark skinned man. "How you holding up?" He asked. The younger man nodded. "About twenty seconds left." He quickly reported. The other four quickened there pace and sounded off as they finished.

"Ok, I need an explanation." Isaac insisted squirming under Tai's arm. "Just give em a bit. You don't need it all in a flash info dump." Tai insisted. Isaac stopped squirming and waited. He noted the dark man had a tail and wondered, he had heard Atlas was extremely harsh to faunas, about a thousand families transferred to Mavideniz were from there and a few from Mantel as well. The story was always the same. A faunas relocation program had started within the Bane, he even donated to that group fund.

As always though it seemed Ironwood was above such things. Isaac found himself relaxing as Tia gave him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. Then time returned to the normal stream.

"What! What is the meaning of this?!" Demanded Ms Shtapan. Spotting Ironwood her expression went from shocked to stunned to angry. "What is the Atlas military doing here, in Anima?" She almost growled out then shoulder shrugged off the one restraining her approaching Ironwood. Even with her arms bound she looked dangerous. "What is the head of the Atlas military doing here? You are directly interfering in Anima affairs." She warned Ironwood.

"He is here at my request." Tai told her. "The Banes information is good, you were found out by them, what you were up to. Seems it takes a lot of people to pull off what you were trying, a lot of documents and electronic emails, and time. Your agency we found has been setting this up for months."

"You don't seem to understand." Tai continued slightly flippantly. "A part of the reason why Mavideniz went independent is there are co projects between the two nations of Atlas and Mavideniz, for killing and learning about grim."

"You are in no authority or governing position to request any foreign nation onto Anima soil." Shtapan informed Tai stiffly. "I also should add not one city or nation as approved of or recognized Mavideniz declaring sovereignty.

Tai continued as if she never spoke. "We learned of your involvement after I adopted my son, seems you sent out quit a few inquiries as to Isaac's status, instructing them to postpone any decision concerning him until you could verify the applicant, so I asked the Patch section of Children's Services to keep quite about Isaac. They agreed after I showed your intent was to mentally execute him, you planed to dose him up with drugs to the point he would be a vegetable, basically killing him. He would die here, or on the way, or just after arrival. You we found are the executioners carrying out orders from another party who does not want the war with grim to end."

Tai took a long breath clearing his throat. "It's kind of funny, we found that politicians, business and markets catering to the training, arming and all the smaller business needed to outfit, house, and train the hundreds of thousands of hunters across Remnant is in fact a multi millions if not a billion lien a month industry, who only a hand full of family's ultimately own. So at least the list is small."

Ironwood cut off Ms Shtapans coming protest giving her the full picture. "This is not just happing here." His voce shifting as he talked, becoming more quiet and dangerous. "Back at Children's Services main office. The children's section for special needs is being searched, the occupants arrested. It seems the paperwork for sequestering Isaac as mentally unstable, requiring massive doses of drugs has already been filled out, completely. Even the required testing dates directed by law have been filled out with the doctors reports fallaciously dated. The ones who made and signed these document's. The ones approving the reports are by now arrested and being interrogated. We need to find out exactly who initiated this."

Isaac watched the woman's demure change to a stone look. One who had endured far worse then what was happening now. The other two were scared, moving to almost panic, while the merc's looked on, there posture spoke of disdain to all of them. The laws Isaac knew would protect them, to a point.

Ironwood was interrupted by one of his subordinates. Who held up one of the fired rounds. After looking at the round Ironwood flatly stated. "Aura pierces. These are forbidden by law to use on people, by all the nations, they would have gone through Tai, Isaac and continued far beyond this compound, possibility killing or wounding others." Walking forward ironwood studded the mercenaries. Giving a concluding grunt before stating as fact. "Your equipment says well off, but these rounds would cost a years commissions with just what you have fired." Frowning Ironwood leaned down. "Who bankrolled you?" When the man didn't answer Ironwood simply nodded his head giving again a soft grunt. "We will find out." He informed them making a motion for them to be gathered up and loaded onto the aircraft.

"General Ironwood? Is your team done?" Isaac asked. Ironwood tilted his head with a questioning look before nodding. Isaac put two fingers to his lips and whistled shrilly. "Stand down, all of you. It's done!" He yelled to no one it seemed.

The sounds of safety's on weapons created a quiet clicking din, hammer's on pistols were clicked softly into place. Rifle safety's were being locked. Ironwood was mildly surprised seeing so many people standing up in full view on the surrounding buildings, corners and windows. He half expected one to pop out of a barrel, or the ground. As they slowly dispersed. Isaac nodded at the woman.

"I know my people. If I'm going to die, I'm taking the ones who did it with me." He almost growled

"You are insane." The woman sighed. For a few fleeting moments Isaac doubted. An involuntary mental nudge told Isaac what she had done. "So, that's how you got this job. A influence semblance." He declared. The suppressed surprised look from her made Isaac smile. "Gotya." He whispered.

"Interesting." Ironwood said eyeing her before adding. "Isaac is a formidable commander, and can see outcomes to events well beyond normal views. Do not mistake genies for insanity." The tall man studied the woman and seemed to make a decision. "You are by your actions treading dangerously close to interfering with one of our joint projects." Then Ironwood turned studying Isaac for a bit before he ordered the remaining three to be loaded for processing, provided Mavideniz government approved. The yelling of you bet and take the scum echoed as the people near enough to hear yelled their answer.

"Mavideniz is at present a communal government." Tai informed Ironwood. "They gave permission, call it a group vote."

"Mavideniz is a providence of Vale." Ms Shtapan informed Tai with a tone suggesting he should learn to read. Tai shook his head in disbelief telling her that Vale had tried a trade based hostile takeover and was defeated, the contract Vale offered was never signed. Had Mavideniz agreed to the sale Vale wanted, and by the contract's wordage Mavideniz would have agreed to becoming a territory of Vale. Mavideniz is now getting the goods and services it needs elsewhere.

As the landing area cleared and things settled down. Ironwood and Tai talked a bit covering subjects from the adoption to Vales financial blackmail. Isaac found for the first time since his arrival, he was comfortable just standing there, watching them talking.

Ironwood half smiled saying as he walked away. "Welcome to my world." He softly smirked before getting into his aircraft. Soon it lifted and flew heading for Mantel.

Isaac looked at the bullhead that had delivered that woman and friends. "Park it out of town in a field and leave it on blocks, don't do anything to the outer skin." He said to no one before walking away. It was a little latter Tai heard the craft lift, slowly moving away from the growing town.

"lets go to a restaurant, this army food is fatting." Tai grinned at Isaac, again taking his shoulder and leading him away from the simple airport. "Why do you keep doing that?" Isaac asked rolling his shoulder. "Makes me feel fatherly." Tai quipped.

After lunch as they walked the meal off Tai laid down his terms. "W-wa wait, your telling me I can be here only three days out of the week? Why?" Isaac looked absolutely stunned and confused that this was happing. "What if there's a mission, a big one?" He ranted. Tai seemed to be thinking and Isaac found himself anxious for an answer. To the world he is a child, and he had to deal with that. Having passed all the schooling did not mean anything when you are still seen as a kid.

Entering a small park the city planers had made the two strolled by the young trees. "Well, we can cover that on a case by case basis, for now I want you back in therapy, that old life you lived is over, you need to settle into this new one, and you know it."

Tai leaned forward trying to be candid. "Look, you get a heap of respect here, I've seen it, and people move just to make sure what you say gets done. You didn't even need to directly address anyone and half the camp showed up, with weapons, and with that bullhead, someone took it. Now the aircraft and is being striped of the insides, just as you commanded. But now you need to take care of yourself. I know your origins and somewhat how you lived, but that's gone, you're here, and, well, a kit." Tai gave Isaac a rub on the back saying sincerely. "Get your head on straight. If for no other reason then to be able to do the stuff the rest of us take for granted."

Settling onto a park bench Isaac frowned looking pointedly at Tai. "You want me out of the lime light. To fade into the background. That's what this is about."

Tai sighed. "Isaac, part of it is, yes, tactically yes, but life is not all tactics and missions, that's over. You need to remove these distractions, you have a new life here and your woefully unprepared for it, you can't even joke around unless its pushed on you, then you respond almost like a program, you do all the right things, say the proper responses with all the feeling of an under cooked noodle."

"I'm, not, needed?" Isaac asked.

Shaking his head at the attempted misdirection. Tai couldn't help but smile. "You've trained em, all of them well. They all know what to do and fallow everything you've taught. It's not that your." Tai sighed anew. "_This is getting frustrating_." He told himself "No, Isaac, you are needed, just not as much. When there's a surprise you're the go to man. You've huntsmen decades old who are working for Grimms Bane. They're taking what you have taught and going to that next step. Slowly it is becoming more and more that you need to learn from them, but you can't do that until your own heads on straight."

"But my messed up head as you call it is why things have changed so much. I'm functional, and am changing, becoming more integrated to society. There's still lots still to do." Tai almost did a face palm. The two went around and around until Tai simply had to put his foot down. Or more exactly the rainbow hairdo couple showed up, handing Isaac a key, a flight log and manual for a personal aircraft.

"This is so you don't have to pay transport fees from Patch to here. Heard you were a little down on funds. He explained. The female jumped in running over the words kind of like Ruby does. "It's got six seat's ya know, with pilot and copilot, , it's fast and enough dust for about four hundred hours of flight, well it's not in the tank but in the cargo hold. You got a place to stow it? At patch?" So it went with these two until it was time to go.

In the end it was Isaac leaving for patch, his thousand, did you do this? And don't forget to's. were met with amused smiles and did and done responses. The see ya latter, others were I'll call if anything good happens.

Less then three days later the news about Children's services hit the news like an explosion.

**Beacon**

Weiss pressed a finger into her temple wishing something would give or the world would start making sense. Almost a month had passed since the controversial news on Grimms Bane fighting an elder grim for the White Fang no less, and now they were again all over the news. "Just how did he pull that off?" The education board on Patch I learned to embrace but the Head of Children's services, for all of Anima?"

"He does seem to be getting around." Blake said quietly looking up from her book as she lay on her bed. "My guess, as they never said what the charges were pending there investigation. It's just a guess, but I bet they tried to get Isaac into an orphanage."

Weiss could hear Yang chuckling from her desk, one of the rare times she studied. With a slow inhale and exhale to steel herself Weiss asked. "Ok, You and Ruby seem to know a lot about him, with all that fostering nonsense, what happened?"

Yang turned facing them with a predators smile. "You want the long or the short?"

"Could we just have the abridged version?" Weiss pleaded. "Sure." Quipped Yang.

"Some of the Banes members got upwind of what Children's Services was going to do to Isaac. Sooo. Dad adopted him so the state couldn't grab Isaac and drug him up for the rest of his life."

Blake leaned forward her forgotten book tumbling onto the bed. "I want very much to hear the long version." Weiss had both her fingers on each temple her skin distorting as she rubbed. "IF this is another corruption and raciest story my faith in Anima as a whole will be greatly diminished."

Yang leaned forward clasping her hands before her. "Well, yes, to all of it, but Snow Queen there's something else." After a moment Yang asked. "How much money is tied up in support so a hunter can be trained and outfitted to hunt grim?"

Yangs explanation was long, with lot's of interruptions from Blake. What astounded the Faunas was Yangs blasé attitude to Isaac who was now her families youngest by adoption. This was Yang, who in the past, wanted nothing better then to turn him into a smear. Blake quickly ran a mental check list.

First Isaac trains a small group of teenagers to take down grim even they, as there seniors couldn't. The school board tried to kick him out, and was taken down by his hunter friends. They start building up Mavideniz taking small to large hunts to pay the bills. Then started making huge dents in the grim population, then this White Fang contract and that massive grim, also killed by Grimms Bane.

The wealth of knowledge coming from the labs of Mavideniz was geared to kill grim. The information of how grim respawn into an area they were killed in, how they did it. Weak points on grim. Now after some controversy with Vale, Mavideniz had declared it's self an independent nation, with it's own laws and infrastructure.

Vale was painting Mavideniz and by proxy Grimms Bane as a threat, militarily speaking, and was trying to pass laws to prevent anything like Isaac from happing again. Then there was the adoption, or rather attempted kidnapping. How Ironwood had arrived, with an elite squad of hunters.

Representatives of Children's Services were arrested as well as six mercenaries, and if the rumors from other hunters were true, had used ammo considered illegal across all of Remnant. In Minstrel the authorities raided two compounds finding and arresting another dozen in a conspiracy to brand Isaac as insane, needing medication usually granted to the criminally insane.

Blake nodded her head as the pieces started to fall into place.

"Money." She said quietly. "Your saying. Hunting grim has become a business, one The Bane is going to end. The bureaucrats are trying to save their financial cash cow."

"Isaac has an uglier spin on it." Yang told Blake with her game face on. "Were trained to die. The big commercial we get, all our lives, like this tournament, is on how heroically brave and self sacrificing, how we are willing to help others no mater what. Its garbage to Isaac. He thinks were brainwashed, were not trained to win, just hold them back. That people became comfortable with this system, which makes us nothing but meat to be ground down so some businessman can live a rich life."

Yang looked down shifting a bit before adding. "From what I've heard Vale is altering the laws, hunters are more restricted now. They can't form up, like Grimms Bane has done."

As the room became quiet the only noise was Weiss getting into the medicine cabinet to get some aspirin.

* * *

Poor Tai I messed him up bad.

Thanks for reading, and leave a comment, it really helps me.


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